It’s a chilly but sunny morning at Katherine Legge Park in Hinsdale for the boys cross country Hinsdale Central Red Devil Invite. 20 High Schools are here to compete, including Naperville Central, Neuqua Valley, Benet Academy, and Metea Valley, all ready for the early-season test. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Neuqua Valley runners get out to a fast start
At the sound of the starter gun, the runners are off. Neuqua Valley’s Grayson Meek and Jesse Gudauskas lead the pack, along with a couple of Metea Valley Mustangs like Jake Murphy, William Wang, and Deepak Peddinti falling in line, along with Naperville Central’s Manny Najera, leading the Redhawks. Benet runners Declan Diamond, Damian Schulz, Liam Hruby, and John Pogue are among the Redwing competitors.
In the first half-mile of the event, Meek and Gudauskas are leading the way with a pack of Hinsdale Central runners, followed by Manny Najera and Redhawk teammate Derek Williamson keeping up pace. Metea Valley’s Dylan Bennett Garza, Robert Johnson from Benet Academy, and another Redhawk, Vaughn Scherer, are also keeping pace as more runners continue to follow.
Manny Najera and Neuqua runners keep a top-five pace
Running through the woods, Meek and Grayson are still together as Alexander Krieg from Palatine takes the lead. Mount Prospect’s Quinn Davis and Hinsdale Central’s Henry Miller are in the top five. Prospect teammates Luke Robinson and Landon Samp have moved up towards the leaders. Redhawk Manny Najera is trying to catch up to Hinsdale Central’s Johnny Krueger, with Bolingbrook’s Isaac Stowers running just behind Najera.
Jesse Gudauskas takes the individual medal while Mt. Prospect wins the team title
The race ends with Jesse Gudauskas taking home the individual top spot for the blue and gold with a new PR time of 14:48.14. Palatine’s Alexander Krieg comes in second with a time of 14:50.59. Grayson Meek of Neuqua Valley sneaks into 3rd, a second behind Krieg. Rounding out the top 5 is Hinsdale Central’s Henry Miller, coming in 4th place, and Redhawk Manny Najera in 5th.
Mount Prospect runners Quinn Davis, Luke Robinson, and Brody Cushing finish in 7th, 8th, and 9th place, resulting in a win for the Mount Prospect team as they take home first place with a score of 69. Hinsdale Central is the runner-up, while Neuqua Valley places third in the boys cross country Red Devil Invite. Anish Bhagwat, Reyaansh Bhagat, Garrett Anderson, Ryan Lee, and Tyler Rozycki all help the Wildcat cause. Naperville Central places 4th as a team with Williamson and Scherer finishing in the top 20, Toby Slider in the top 40, and Gavin George and Ryan Hendricks in the top 60.
The full race results can be found on athletic.net.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
